Another 7-Eleven store prosecuted

Another 7-Eleven store in Brisbane has allegedly been
short-changing its workers tens of thousands of dollars.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has announced legal action against
the operators of a 7-Eleven outlet on Boundary Road, West
End.

Facing Court is franchisee Sheng-Chieh Lo and his company
Mai Pty Ltd.

The Fair Work Ombudsman claims 12 staff, including
international students, were underpaid a total of $82,661 in the
year to September, 2014.

The Boundary Road store was one of 20 7-Eleven stores
targeted for surprise night-time visits as part of a tri-State
operation in September, 2014.

The litigation takes to seven the number of 7-Eleven
operators to face Court since 2009.

Earlier this month, the Fair Work Ombudsman announced
legal proceedings against the operators of two other 7-Eleven
outlets in the Brisbane CBD.

It is alleged that Mr Lo paid flat hourly rates as low as
$13 an hour and tried to conceal the underpayments by creating
false employment records.

Mr Lo allegedly made false entries into the 7-Eleven head
office payroll system.

He and his company allegedly also knowingly provided false
time-and-wage records to the Fair Work Ombudsman.

When Fair Work inspectors confronted Mr Lo with evidence
of the underpayments, he provided bank records to indicate he had
back-paid the employees, according to documents filed with the
Federal Circuit Court.

It is alleged that these documents were false or
misleading because they did not show that many of the employees had
allegedly repaid those amounts to Mr Lo.

In one instance, Mr Lo allegedly received money from an
employee in advance, which he then transferred into their
account.

Mr Lo faces maximum penalties of up to $10,400 per
contravention and Mai Pty Ltd faces penalties of up to $54,000 per
contravention.

The Fair Work Ombudsman is also seeking Court Orders for
Mai Pty Ltd to fully back-pay the workers any outstanding
amounts.

It is alleged the employees were underpaid total amounts
ranging from $1673 to $21,966.

The Fair Work Ombudsman is also seeking injunctions
restraining Mr Lo and his company from underpaying workers in
future and from seeking or accepting any back-payment of wages from
current or former employees.

Orders are also being sought for Mai Pty Ltd to display an
in-store notice informing employees of entitlements and to
undertake an audit of its compliance with workplace laws and report
the results to the Fair Work Ombudsman.

A directions hearing is listed in the Federal Circuit
Court in Brisbane on February 29.

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